Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code
Date: 2005-03-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Union transit, customs document, customs formalities, customs regulations, customs territory (EU), customs union, information system

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 01.03.2005 
COM(2005)66 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the 
implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92  
establishing the Community Customs Code 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

Pursuant  to  Decision  210/97/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  19 
December  1996  adopting  an  action  programme  for  customs  in  the  Community  (Customs 
2000)1,  the  Community  transit  system  has  been  computerised.  The  system  has  been  fully 
operational  in  the  Member  States  since  1  July  2003  and  has  been  proven  to  be  reliable  and 
satisfactory both for customs administrations and for economic operators. 

Under  those  circumstances  it  is  no  longer  economically  justified  to  permit  formalities  to  be 
carried out on the basis of a transit declaration made in writing, exception made to exceptional 
cases such as non- availability of computerised systems (customs or operators) or declarations 
presented by travellers. 

Since  some  Member  States  need  to  finalise  the  development  and  implementation  of  the 
necessary  tools  and  links  in  order  to  allow  all  economic  operators  to  be  linked  to  the 
computerised  transit  system  a  transitional  period  permitting  the  use  of  transit  declarations 
made in writing should be envisaged. 

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/932 laying down provisions for the implementation 
of  the  Community  Customs  Code  should  therefore  be  amended  accordingly  [and  this  is  the 
object of the annexed draft Commission Regulation]. 

In  the  absence  of  an  opinion  delivered  by  the  Customs  Code  Committee  on  the  draft 
regulation  presented  by  the  Commission,  it  is  therefore  up  to  the  Council  to  adopt  the 
necessary measures, in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999. This 
is the object of the draft Council regulation. 

1 

2 

OJ  L  33,  4.2.1997,  p.  24.  Decision  as  last  amended  by  Decision  No  105/2000/EC  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 13, 19.1.2000, p. 1) 
OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2286/2003 (OJ L 343, 
31.12.2003, p.1). 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the 
implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92  
establishing the Community Customs Code 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the 
Community Customs Code3, and in particular Article 247 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

Pursuant to Decision 210/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 
December  1996  adopting  an  action  programme  for  customs  in  the  Community 
(Customs  2000)4,  the  Community  transit  system  has  been  computerised.  The  system 
has been fully operational in the Member States since 1 July 2003 and has been proven 
to  be  reliable  and  satisfactory  both  for  customs  administrations  and  for  economic 
operators. 

Under those circumstances it is no longer economically justified to permit formalities 
to be carried out on the basis of a transit declaration made in writing, the use of which 
implies that the customs authorities are obliged to enter manually the declaration data 
into  the  computerised  system.  In  general,  all  transit  declarations  should  therefore  be 
lodged using a data-processing technique. 

The use of transit declarations made in writing should only be permitted in exceptional 
cases where customs' computerised transit system or where the operator's application 
is not functioning in order to allow economic operators to carry out transit operations. 

In  order  to  allow  travellers  to  carry  out  transit  operations  the  customs  authorities 
should  authorise  the  use  of  transit  declarations  made  in  writing  where  the  travellers 
cannot directly access the computerised transit system. 

3 
4 

OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by the act of accession of 2003. 
OJ  L  33,  4.2.1997,  p.  24.  Decision  as  last  amended  by  Decision  No  105/2000/EC  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 13, 19.1.2000, p. 1) 

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(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

Since some Member States need to develop and implement necessary tools and links 
in  order  to  allow  all  economic  operators  to  be  linked  to  the  computerised  transit 
system a transitional period permitting the use of transit declarations made in writing 
should be envisaged. 

Except  in  cases  where  the  customs'  computerised  transit  system  or  where  the 
principal's  application  is  not  functioning,  the  customs  authorities  accepting  transit 
declarations made in writing should ensure that the transit data is exchanged between 
the customs authorities using information technology and computer networks. 

Commission  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2454/935  should 
accordingly. 

therefore  be  amended 

In the absence of an opinion delivered by the Customs Code Committee on the draft 
regulation presented by the Commission, it is therefore up to the Council to adopt the 
necessary measures, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 is amended as follows: 

1. 

Article 353 is replaced by the following: 

"1.  Transit  declarations  shall  comply  with  the  structure  and  particulars  set  out  in 
Annex  37a,  and  shall  be  lodged  at  the  office  of  departure  using  a  data-processing 
technique. 

2. 
The customs authorities shall accept a transit declaration made in writing on a 
form corresponding to the specimen set out in Annex 31 and in accordance with the 
procedure  defined  by  the  customs  authorities  in  agreement  with  each  other  in  the 
following cases: 

(a) 

the customs authorities' computerised transit system is not functioning, 

(b) 

the principal's application is not functioning. 

The  malfunctioning  referred  to  in  paragraph  2,  point  (b)  shall  be  certified  by 

3. 
the customs authorities. 

4.  Where the goods are transported by travellers who have no direct access to the 
customs'  computerised  system  and  so  have  no  means  of  lodging  the  transit 
declaration using a data processing technique at the office of departure, the customs 
authorities shall authorise the traveller to use a transit declaration made in writing on 
a form corresponding to the specimen set out in Annex 31. 

5 

OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2286/2003 (OJ L 343, 
31.12.2003, p.1). 

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In  this  case  the  customs  authorities  shall  ensure  that  the  transit  data  is  exchanged 
between customs authorities using information technology and computer networks." 

2. 

Article 354 is deleted. 

Article 2 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union. 

It shall apply from 1 July 2005. 

However, the customs authorities may continue to accept transit declarations made in writing 
until 31 December 2005 at the latest. 

Where  the  customs  authorities  decide  to  accept  transit  declarations  made  in  writing  after  1 
July  2005,  the  decision  shall  be  communicated  to  the  Commission  in  writing  before  1  July 
2005. In this case the customs authorities of these Member States shall ensure that the transit 
data  is  exchanged  between  the  customs  authorities  using  information  technology  and 
computer networks. 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

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